Richard and Judy's new UKTV home will be named Watch

Richard and Judy: New chatshow in October coincides with rebranding of UKTV's channels.

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan's next peak time show is to air on a new multichannel TV service to be called Watch.

The new channel is part of the first phase of a rebranding of multichannel broadcaster UKTV's channels, which also sees UKTV Drama become crime station Alibi and UKTV Gold become just Gold and focus more tightly on comedy.

UKTV enjoyed huge success last year when it rebranded UKTV G2 as Dave, seeing ratings rise after the rebrand, even though the channel was still showing the same mix of repeats of BBC shows such as Top Gear, Have I Got News for You and QI.

Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today, the UKTV chief executive, David Abraham, said the name Watch was chosen because it does "like it says on the tin", similar to sandwich chain Eat.

Abraham added that the format of Madeley and Finnigan's as-yet untitled new show for Watch is still being worked on.

However, he said the programme would be "a bit more unplugged and grown up" than the duo's Channel 4 teatime chatshow, which ends in August.

Madeley and Finnigan will continue their book club, but Abraham said the new show, made by current Richard & Judy producers Cactus, is expected to also "play entertainment acts". There are also discussions about including a role in the programme for the couple's daughter, Chloe Madeley.

Abraham also said he was "not ruling out" the idea of a quiz in the show, but said it was unlikely it would feature premium rate phone-lines.

Watch: New UKTV channel
Watch is due to launch on October 7 in a prominent place on the electronic programme guide.

The new channel will also feature re-runs of top BBC shows such as Mistresses and Cranford.

Abraham said Watch would be made up of about 20% new and original shows, hopefully rising to 50%.

Contrary to reports, he said it would "not be female skewed", but would feature the best of the BBC's "modern classics" such as Torchwood, Messiah and Doctor Who.

Watch will be marketed as an alternative to computer downloads and catch-up services, although in most cases UKTV cannot broadcast repeats of BBC shows for up to six months after transmission.

Alongside the usual British comedy classics such as Only Fools and Horses, Gold will also feature some original shows.

Most notable among these is Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga, a programme to mark the comedy's 25th anniversary that reunites the cast and might be sold on to a BBC channel.

Abraham said UKTV, a joint venture between the BBC and Virgin Media, might do more co-productions, adding that he wanted to counteract the outdated "snobbery" about digital networks only airing repeats.

He added that the rebranding of UKTV's channels was part of a strategy to make them "connect emotionally" with viewers in a multichannel world.

The names for new entertainment channel Watch and crime station Alibi came out of brainstorming within UKTV.

Abraham refused to reveal how much the rebranding will cost but it is thought to cost less than £1m per channel.

It is likely that the UKTV name will be dropped entirely from all channel brands, though it will be kept for corporate branding.

Abraham said that despite the emergence of the BBC's iPlayer and the soon-to-launch commercial joint venture catch-up service Kangaroo, UKTV's business model was sound.

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